Cell movement and symmetry of the cellular environment

The movement of micro-organisms was investigated in different cellular environments. The type of movement was described in terms of the symmetry of the cellular environment: (i) Random movement - isotropic symmetry of the environment, (ii) contact guidance - apolar symmetry of the environment and (iii) directed movement as chemotaxis and galvanotaxis - polar symmetry of the environment. To quantitate cell movement it was necessary to parameterize the environment as well as the cell movement by observables. The random movement was quantitated by the diffusion coefficient. The contact guidance of the nematic type and the contact guidance on a bent surface were quantified by an apolar order parameter. The contact guidance constant for fibroblast on a glass cylinder was 87.5 microns. The directed movement was quantified by a polar order parameter. Dose-response curves were derived and compared for different types of cells: Chemotaxis of granulocytes KCT-1 = 2.2 mm for 10 microM f-Met-Met-Met, galvanotaxis of granulocytes KG-1 = 0.2 V/mm, galvanotaxis of fibroblast KG-1 = 0.28 V/mm, galvanotaxis of spermatozoids of bracken fern KG-1 = 0.024 V/mm.